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Grosgrain Archives

September 7, 2009

Well here it is, by request of you, the poppy tutorial!!!! Like I mentioned before these were inspired by the Emersonmade poppies! If you rather not take the trouble to do these buy them here. All handmade and lovely.

I had wanted to complete these last week but I came down with an awful sinus infection which really took the wind out of my sails.

However, my good friend Cheila of What's Goin Down Episode invited me over to her new home on Friday which gave us the perfect opportunity to spend an afternoon taking pictures and making poppies. I love spending the day with Cheila. She's a great cook AND loves to sew!

They just bought a new older home and it's lovely! Full of all those touches you can't find in brand new construction. Moulding, moulding, moulding, hardwood floors, wraparound staircase, wood windows and pocket doors.

Lily and her daughter had fun dirtying their playroom with play dough and moon sand. Less fun when it came time to clean up. We had fun eating chicken salad on endive, lemon pastries with coffee and of course....making poppies!

They are a little different than the first one I made (for the better). Less work. More pretty.

If you want a fuller flower just cut out more flowers and create more layers. If you want a smaller flower just eliminate the larger flowers and make fewer layers.

The giveaway is for the pea green poppy that is pictured on me at the top and the cluster of pink, white and beige poppies.

You might want also want to try cutting the tips of the flower patterns in a point to make peonies.

I might even suggest some embellishments like a hanging ribbon in the back. Or create several small ones of varying size and cluster them together to line one side of a vest or the neckline of a dress.

I made the above pea green poppy a little smaller than the original one on Lily. Cheila made thes full sized one in blue and had the brilliant idea to pin it to a pillow. It looked just like something in Anthropologie!

These flowers were an evolution of a pattern I found on Martha Stewart. She has some really FABULOUS paper flower tutorials. Check 'em out!

Step 3: Double up your fabric and trace each of the patterns so that you have two of each flower.

Step 4. Cut out the flowers.

Step 5. Spray your fabric with Fray Stop Spray on each side. I DEFINITELY recommend using a spray rather than a gel. It takes a FRACTION of the time. I bought mine at Hancock fabrics. But you can buy it online too. Surprisingly I could not find it at either JoAnn's or Michael's. You know, if you didn't have Fray Stop Spray perhaps some old fashioned hair spray might do the trick? After this step your flowers should be a little stiffer.

Step 6. Take the smallest flower and cut out each of the petals. Make each petal pointed at the bottom.

Step 7.
1. Once you have each petal cut....

2. Fold over the bottom half of the petal so that the petal cups up like a 'real' petal. I also recommend using the side that you did not trace on since a few of the marker edges can appear if you use that side up.

3. See how the fabric curves. The more you fold over the more curve you can achieve. If you wanted a look of a flower just barely opening you would make the petals almost fold inward on itself by making a very deep fold at the bottom. Experiment with this fold and see what you can achieve.

4. Hot glue the folded fabric in place. Do this for each of the petals.

5. Hot glue each of the petals together overlapping each until you use all the petals of the first smallest flower. It should look like a full circle of petals.

6. Do steps 1-6 for each flower hot gluing the next level of flowers underneath the previous level. See how it should look underneath in step 6.Step 8. Cut a 2"x2" piece of contrasting fabric for the center of the flower.

Step 9. Hot glue the ends together and then glue the middle together to form a 't' shape. Cut the top of the 't' off and put a dab of hot glue on it.

If this step is too confusing you could just cut a very small circle of felt and hot glue it to the center of your flower.

I preferred the method I used in step 9 because it had a puffier ball-like look.

Step 10. Turn it over and press it into the middle of your flower trying to hide all the edges underneath the middle of the ball.

Step 11. Cut out a 3"x3" felt circle and make two slits near the top. Slide your pin through the two holes and hot glue it to the felt. Sometimes my flower droops a little when its pinned to my shirt so what you might want to do is try to either place the pin even higher on the circle or use two pins for extra support. Then take the circle and glue it to the back of your finished flower. VOILA! You're done.

As usual, if you would like a chance to win these poppies just link back to this post.

If you have any questions see the "questions and answers" link to the right. If you use blogger just use the "create a link" link at the bottom of this post. If you don't use blogger, that's fine too. Just create a link on your page as you normally would and I will see it using Technorati.

This poppy looks like the perfect fall accessory - and a great way to use smaller pieces of fabric. Thanks for posting! All I need is some spray starch and the pin, and this will be my next project. :-)

hi! i just found your blog through the "happy together" blog! wow! i love these sweet poppys! i have been seeing them around blogland and cant wait to wear one! i will try to make one with your tutorial but hopefully i will win yours! ha! i just started a blog and i thought i would try to post about this! cant wait to read more! thanks! julie@jam-n-jilly.blogspot.com

Just found your lovely blog and I am in love with these Poppy Boutonnieres...how much fun...thank you for sharing ...I am going to give them a try! I am off to follow your lovely blog and to see what I have been missing!

What a beautiful and simple adornment. I am so in love with this project. I think I'll have to make a few for Christmas gifts. They'd even look lovely as a functional replacement to a bow on a box. Thanks so much for the tutorial.

Gorgeous! I love this idea! I couldn't resist adding this to our link luv roundup today. Come by for a peek:http://www.luvinthemommyhood.com/2009/09/link-luv-roundup_09.htmlThanks for another great tutorial!

How stunning! I'm new to craftiness, but the elegant simplicity of the project, great tutorial, and my overwhelming desire to have one of these has convinced me that this MUST be my next project! Thank you for the beautiful inspiration!

I almost fell off my chair when the Poppy pictures popped up. (Say that real fast three times... lol) Anyway, that's because I LOVE Poppies, I have them planted right outside my window where I can see them from my favorite chair. Their little faces smile and greet me each day. You have done such a beautiful job making them and what an honor it would be to show them off. Thanks so very much for this opportunity. :}

You always have such great pictures. I think it would be interesting to fuse two peices of fabric together. The inside and outside of the flower could be two colors and it would seal the edges at the same time.

About Me

A blog by an artsy craftsy, penny pinching, party planning, playdating,
fashion finding, sci-fi loving, stay at home mother of three little
girls *and one little boy who always keeps her sewing machine plugged in and loves all
things charming.